The Way to Strike Big Data Gold

MICHEL LIES: Data seems to be the gold of the information age. Similar to the gold rush, in today’s world some precious data nuggets are found easily, but to find the gold vein in one company’s data needs more than just a little digging.

First, we need to deal with standard problems such as poor data quality, incompatible data structure, data safeguards, data protection and many other issues. At the same time, of course, we also need to take account of ethical questions and matters related to reputational risks.
But this is only the first step. On its own, it does not help us separate the valuable gold nuggets from the worthless dirt. To get to the gold vein, we need a holistic information strategy with an end-to-end view of data and a profound understanding of the business value we want to create. Data by itself does not solve any issues or problems.

The reinsurance industry is used to dealing with enormous amounts of historical data and scenarios in order to assess, select and price risks. So how should we approach the data that has so far remained untapped? I believe that if we ask the right questions and can connect up the dots, then we’ll be better positioned to draw the right conclusions. This could mean that we’ll be able to tailor and price insurance products even more closely to the risks people and companies face. This would be the gold vein for us.

What is it for you? What are your gold nuggets you need to dig out?

Michel M. Liès is the group chief executive of Swiss Re, a global reinsurer.